Karachi: Sindh Minister for Human Settlement of Pakistan's southern province, Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, died of COVID-19 in the provincial capital on Tuesday, the spokesperson of the provincial government said.

Some other political figures including the National Assembly speaker, governor of Sindh and several other lawmakers and ministers have also tested positive of the disease, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sindh reported 1,439 new coronavirus cases and 23 deaths on Tuesday while 953 persons recovered from the deadly virus.

In the past 24 hours, 5,454 tests were conducted in the province, of which 26.4 percent were positive, said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued by the CM House.

He added that the provincial government has conducted 192,546 tests so far, with 31,086 total positive cases. “In other words, the overall detection of the cases comes to 16.2 percent while the current detection has been recorded at 26.4 percent,” he said.

The provincial death toll has hit 526, which is 1.7 percent of the total reported patients, whereas, the recovery rate stands at 50 percent, said Shah.

According to Shah, of the current active cases, 358 patients are in critical condition and 64 of them are on the ventilator.

The active cases in the province, include 13,813 in-home isolation, 111 in isolation centres, and 1,098 patients admitted at various hospitals.

Elaborating on the cases that have emerged in the past 24 hours, he said that 1,035 of them are from Karachi – 263 from Korangi district, 242 from East district, 166 cases in Central district, 167 in South district, and 58 cases in West district.

Of the rest of the province, Larkana reported 50 cases, Hyderabad 47, Sukkur 40, Khairpur 33, Ghotki 27, Shaheed Benazirabad 17, Badin 15, Sanghar 13, Jamshoro nine, Qambar-Shahdadkot reported six, while five new cases emerged in Sujawal and Shikarpur each, and one each in Umerkot and Matiari districts.

Shah expressed concerns that local transmission of the deadly virus was on the rise. The virus was also spreading in rural areas like wildfire, he added.

Terming the decision to ease the lockdown further as “difficult,” he urged citizens to practice precautionary measures and adhere to the SOPs. Otherwise, this pandemic cannot be defeated, he stressed.

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Pakistan.  

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2233924/1-sindh-records-highest-single-day-tally-1439-new-cases-emerge/